Propelling mechanism for vessels



(No Model.)

F. TAFF.

PROPELLING MEGHANISM I'ORVESSELS. No. 510,725. Patented Dec.- 12, 1893.

w/r/v5sss.- AINII/ENTOI? l i E BY 3 M ATTORNEYS.

ffiNiTnn STATES FFlCEs FRANK TAFF, or'wni'rnsronn, NEW YORK.

PROPELLING M ECHANl SM FOR VESSEL S.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 510,725, dated December 12, 1893. Application filed April 7,1893. Serial No. 469,430. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK TAFF, of Whitestone,in the county of Queens and State of New York, haveinvented anew and Improved =Propelling Mechanism for Vessels, of which thefollowing isa full,clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to that class of pro- I pellers for vessels which, following the anala center.

. radial swing of the blade which in departing from a straight longitudinal line must necessarily also move forward, involving a backward drag, and this backward drag so largely nullifies or neutralizes the sculiing effect of the rear edge as to give this form of propeller but little practical value.

My invention avoids this backward drag by doing away altogether with the pivotal or oscillating movement of the flexible fin or blade, and arranging it to move bodily orintegrally so that the front part of the fin or blade moves laterally just as far as the rear part does, and with areciprocating motion at right angles to its plane. Ward drag incidental to the radial swing, and causes the reactionary efiect to be resolved wholly into a forward movement as will be fully described hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,

in which similar figures and letters of referparts in all the other elastic material, the blade being made This avoids the backof such thickness that it will flex sidewise. The shape of the blade is approximately that of a fish tail, or that of the blade of an oar, and at the end of the bladeadapted forconnection with the vessel a hub'lO,is'produced, in any suitable or approved manner. Each blade is adapted for connection with an independent shaft; therefore, two shafts are employed, designated respectively as 11 and 12. The shafts are located in the hull of the vessel, and extend outwardly through suitably packed openings in the sides of the hull. The twoshafts are arranged end toend and have end movement. The shaft 12 is provided at its inner end with a socket or bore 13, into which the inner end of the shaft 11 enters and slides, the said inner end of the shaft 11 being reduced in diameter and made to conform to the cross sectional shape of the socket of the shaft 12. The reduced portion of'the shaft 11, is designated in the drawings asll. Thus one shaft serves in a measure to guide the other, and by thus coupling the shafts are secured at their hubs to the outer extremities of the shafts 11 and 12, the blades extending rearward in direction of the stern parallel'with the keel. The shafts are adapted to move simultaneously outward and inward, and any approved form of driving mechanism may be employed for that purpose. In the drawings themechanism used consists of two meshing gears 16 and 17, one of which is attached to a driving shaft, and each gearhas connected with it a pitman 18, a pitman being'oonnected likewise one with each shaft.

Referring now to Fig. 3, when the shaft is forced outwardly, as shown, in dotted lines, the flexible blade or fin A, curves during this stroke to the position A, and at the end. of

when the shaft is drawn in, the blade from its normal straight position A comes to the position A and then straightens out to the position A again, and in both this inwardly integral movement and the reactionary spring movement in straightening, the resultant line of pressure is still in a forward direction as shown by the arrow S. In both strokes then it will be perceived that the curving and deflection of the blade, or its departure from the right angular position only takes place within the limits of the two positions A and A which i are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vessel, so that the entire effect of the blade is expended in a forward direction without any such backward drag asa pivotalandoscillating swing would involve.

By causing the two blades on oppositesides of the vessel to move oppositely by reason of the gears 16 and 17 their lateral thrust on the vessel is neutralized and all jarring or tremhlingof the vessel is avoided.

It will be understood that the improved propolling mechanism may be used of itself to propel a vessel, or it may be employed as an auxiliary to the usual screw propeller or propellers, and the peculiar movement of the ing devices for moving the fin bodily at right angles to its plane substantially as and for the purposes described.

2; A propeller for vessels consisting of a blade or fin made flexible and elastic in its length; combined with and rigidly attached to a shaft or support at right angles and guiding and actuating devices for reciprocating the fin bodily in a planeat right angles to the blade substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. A propeller for vessels consisting of two elastic blades or fins arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vessel on opposite sides of the same, two corresponding shafts rigidly attached to the blades and arranged transversely to the vessel to reciprocate through the sides of the same, and means for imparting an opposite or reverse movement to the shafts to cause the lateral t'h-rustof one blade to neutralize the lateral thrust of the other to relieve the vessel of a tendency to tremble, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. A propeller for vessels consisting of two elastic blades or fins arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vessel on opposite sides of the same, two reciprocating shafts rigidly attached to the blades, arranged transversely in the sides of the vessel, and having a sliding connection with each other at their inner ends, and gear wheels and pitmen arranged to impart a reversed reciprocating motion to the twoshafts and blades substantially as shown and described.

FRANK TAFF.

Witnesses:

OLIVER TAFF, SETH HARPELL. 

